Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Bare It All - Lori Foster (HQN - May 2013)

As the person responsible for taking down a
brutal human trafficker, Alice Appleton fears retaliation at every turn.
No one knows about her past, which is exactly how she prefers it…until
the sexy cop next door comes knocking.

Detective Reese Bareden thinks he knows what makes women tick, but his
ever-elusive neighbor keeps him guessing like no other. Is his goal to
unmask Alice's secrets? Or protect her from a dangerous new threat? One
thing is certain: their chemistry is a time bomb waiting to explode. And
with no one to trust but each other, Reese and Alice are soon drawn
into a deadly maze of corruption, intrigue and desire -- and into the
line of fire….

Very good book with plenty of action. We have the alpha hero who also has a sensitive side and a kick-ass heroine who is also vulnerable.
Reese has been fascinated by Alice for quite awhile, but she doesn't let
anyone get close - until she came to the rescue at the end of Run the Risk.
With Reese's apartment being a crime scene, Alice offered to let Reese
stay at her place for a couple days. This suits Reese perfectly since
he's been looking for a way to get to know Alice better. It doesn't
take long for him to realize that she's hiding something which just
motivates him more. Those secrets soon put her in danger once again and
it's up to Reese to protect her.I loved both Alice and Reese. Alice was one of the women rescued by Trace in Trace of Fever.
She had been forced to work for the bad guy and is still suffering a
lot of guilt over that fact. She also fears that if her part in the
takedown were known she would be hunted down and killed. So she works
from home and keeps to herself. She can't stand by and do nothing when
Reese is attacked and ends up letting him stay in her apartment. While
she is very good at blending in, she can be a real kick-ass kind of
woman. She is determined never to be a victim again and has multiple
weapons hidden around her home. She is also very good at reading people
which creates some very amusing situations throughout the book. I loved
her bluntness and the effect it often had on the men. She
has worked very hard at keeping Reese at arm's length, but she also has
been taking care of his dog which opens her up a bit more than she is
comfortable with at first. Alice is also fascinated by Reese and very
attracted to him. I loved the way that she had a tendency to stare at
his body and he was constantly telling her "Eyes up here". When it comes
to Reese she is an intriguing mix of shy/nervous and
aggressive/confident. I loved the way that she had little trouble
showing him that she wanted him, but she also had some serious
self-worth issues because of her captivity. Those scenes between them
were explosive. Alice also had trust issues with most people but
trusted Reese almost from the beginning. Though it took a little while
to do so, she soon opened up to Reese about her past. She was afraid
that it would change the way he treated her and was surprised when it
didn't. Their conversations when the subject of the trafficking and her
current activities came up were great. He gets so frustrated by her methods and not being careful enough. He'd also rather she came to him for help. Alice was constantly surprised
by his protectiveness and also his trust in her. I really enjoyed her
relationship with Rowdy and how that friendship drove Reese nuts. She
also started being able to trust other people and developed friendships
of her own with Reese's friends. I loved the way that her impulsive act
of rescuing one girl from traffickers snowballed into helping Reese and
Logan take down a trafficking ring. Reese
is a big tough man who actually has a pretty soft center. As a cop his
protectiveness has the perfect outlet. He has been fascinated by Alice
for a long time but she doesn't let him get close until he needs help
with his new dog. When she offers to let him stay in her apartment
until his is no longer a crime scene he jumps at the chance. It quickly
becomes obvious to him that she is just as attracted to him as he is to
her but that she has some major trust issues. I loved the way that he
tries so hard to be patient and let her decide when she is ready. When
he discovers all the weapons she has hidden around the place he is
determined to find out her secrets. I loved how he uses her attraction
to distract her enough to get her talking about her past. His
protectiveness really came out when she told him what had happened to
her. It didn't take long for his feelings to go from simple attraction
to something deeper. He really tried to fight it for awhile but soon
accepted that he wanted more with her. I loved his jealousy over her
friendship with Rowdy. Some of the conversations centering around him
were hysterical. When she put herself at risk by rescuing Cheryl he was
afraid for her safety and determined to do whatever it took to keep her
safe. When he discovered the connection between her rescue and a case
that he is working on he is even more worried about her. I loved the
way he got closer to her with each bit of her past that was revealed. I
also liked the way that he appreciated her strength and her abilities.
It was very hard to include her in the final takedown even though he
knew he had to. I loved how he was the first to admit his feelings.I
loved seeing so much more of Rowdy. He is obviously uncomfortable with
his new role on the right side of the law but is slowly getting used to
it. I loved the interactions between him and Reese, especially when it
came to Alice. There was a great scene where she compared him to her
having a close girlfriend to confide it - it was hilarious. I also
liked seeing more of his developing relationship with Avery and the
story behind his acquisition of the bar. I really can't wait to get my
hands on his book.One
of the best parts of the book was the brief appearance of Trace
Rivers. He's mentioned earlier in the book in regards to his rescue of
Alice. I loved the way Reese was so jealous even though there was no
reason to be. I loved seeing him just appear at Alice's apartment. The
interaction between him and Reese over Alice was so much fun to see. I
also loved his comparison of the two men being handcuffed to beds and
rescued by women.

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About Me

My name is Susan and I live in Ostfildern, Germany. I have 2 children: Alan, 32 and Beth, 30, and one granddaughter, Evie. My husband and I have been married for 34 years. I worked part-time at Borders Books, which is a dangerous place for a bookaholic to work. It may explain why I have more than 400 books on my TBR bookshelf....
I started reading romance when I was around 12 or 13. I was babysitting for a neighbor who gave me free run of her bookshelves. Most of them were Harlequin Romances. I started out on authors like Margaret Way and Violet Winspear. I also read alot of Barbara Cartland. As I got older I added authors like Bertrice Small and Nora Roberts.
Several years ago I gave the first of Nora Roberts' Three Sisters trilogy to my daughter, as I thought she would enjoy it. Now she is as voracious a romance reader as I am. She is frequently asked "Does your mom know you read that stuff?" to which she replies "Who do you think got me started?!"
I learned awhile ago that I needed to keep track of what I've read and purchased. I now use a program called BookCat to track my books. I also list my books on Goodreads, LibraryThing, and FictionDB.